Sixteen Students Earn Athletic Honors

Sixteen student-athletes took home seventeen awards at the annual  Athletic Awards Banquet. It is the final formal dinner before commencement week and a time to celebrate athletic achievement and personal improvement. Each coach presented an award to a player of their choosing from their team and shared some remarks about what it is about the athlete that earned them their award.

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The award winners with the plaques.

In preparation for the event, Athletic Director Mr. Gino Riffle sent this message to all the coaches. It describes the qualities of each athlete that merit the award.  Essentially, these are the qualifications:

“For our competitive team sports, the coach’s award is given to the athlete that is characterized by the notion that there is no “I” in team.  Both on and off the field, rink, hill, etc., they lead by example.  They are the consummate team player who goes above and beyond to make a difference for their team.  Their leadership, ability to communicate with teammates and coaches are critical to the team’s success.

For our non-competitive team sports, the coach’s award is given to the athlete that best demonstrates, throughout their season, the true spirit of the sport.  It is not only given for hard work and personal improvement, but for a willingness to understand and learn in an effort to achieve one’s potential in that sport.“

Before the presentation of the awards commenced, Mr. Riffle addressed the school, highlighting some of the greatest accomplishments of the 2016-2017 school year.  Riffle’s opening words could not have been more accurate: “This season has been one of many successes from both individuals and team performances.”

He went on to highlight the Girl’s Hockey Team’s best record in school history, the special inaugural Boys 16u hockey season, the Junior Team’s stunning win over Shattuck at the Northwood Tournament and their totaling of 80 wins over the past two seasons, the Prep Team’s victory over an all-PG Bridgton Academy Team, the Alpine ski program’s success, especially Sarah Bennett ‘19, Mathieu Cote ‘18, Alex Akoundi ‘17, and Kimmy Ellis ‘17, as well as the unsung successes of the outdoor program and the robotics team.

Following are the award winners, their respective sports and coaches:

Winner Sport Coach
Sarah Bennett ’19 Alpine Skiing Daigneault
Max Stransky ’17 Free Style Doan
Amanda Hinge ’17 David Phelps/Kimball Daigneault
Simon Ou ’19 Crew H. Runyon
Yoshi Levey ‘19 Rock Climbing Mellor
Nick Ormon ‘17 Jr. Hockey Cassidy
JP Montmarquette ‘17 Prep Hockey Silengo
Stephen Panico ‘19 Boys 16u Hockey Gilligan
Hannah Rose ‘18 Girls Hockey Schoedel
Tristan Baldauf ‘17 Whitewater Nemec/Roy
Sara Donatello ;18 Girls Lacrosse Riffle
Kaden Pickering ‘17 Boys Lacrosse Welsh
Barrett Ott ‘19 Ted Boardman Haggerty
Palmer Feinberg ‘17 Golf Silengo
Kip Morgan ‘20 Intramurals Dingle/Portal/Weaver
Aiden Smith ‘19 Mountain Biking Daigneault
Palmer Feinberg ‘17 Robotics Martin

Congratulations to all of the athletes honored, and to all of the coaches on their tremendous seasons.

Soccer and the Outing Club are Back. Boys Hockey to Field Two Teams.

Students arriving at Northwood School in the fall of 2017 will once again be able to play competitive soccer. Other changes to the school’s athletic program include turning the rock climbing program into the Northwood Outing Club and the elimination of one hockey team; the school will field two boys hockey team and one girls team.

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The return of soccer has been met with excitement by many students. Soccer will be open to everybody, even hockey players.  Hockey players will play soccer 3-4 days a week, and play hockey the other 3.  Students who do not play hockey will play soccer all week long.  Both boys and girls teams will be playing about 8-10 games.  The coaches are still to be assigned.

One of the main reasons for the return of soccer, according to Athletic Director Mr. Gino Riffle, will be to have better student interaction.  What he noticed this year was that with the extended hockey season (September to mid-March), the “hockey players” were in the same friend group for most of the year, and associated mainly with each other.  Mr. Riffle thinks that having a soccer season will give the hockey players a better chance to interact with different kids, which is always a good thing.

The administration also plans to move to a trimester schedule next year.  With the semester schedule, some sports ran late.  For example, the crew team still had to row a week after the first quarter ended this year.  Using a trimester schedule will better align the academic and athletic schedules.

barrier3The rock climbing program led by Mr. Mellor will also undergo much change.  It will become more of a “Northwood Outing Club,” according to Mr. Riffle.  Next year, it will include more trips and more of an Adirondack experience than just a few hours of rock climbing each day.  The final steps of this program are still being worked out with Mr. Mellor in charge. Mr. Riffle is optimistic about the changes. “We always look at ways to add programs that we should have that we currently don’t and enhance the ones we do have but have not been as successful as they could be,” he said. The Northwood Outing Club existed in the past and focused on hiking and camping expeditions. Mr. Mellor was a member when he was a Northwood student.

The hockey program will also change for the boys. The girls program will remain the way it is: one team.  The boys however, will be going from three teams to two teams.  Neither team will be age restricted. Next year will be something like a Varsity A and Varsity B, but the names of the teams have yet to be settled.

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An obvious question comes to mind when learning that more than twenty boys hockey roster slots will disappear next year: Will some students who want to play hockey be denied that opportunity?  Mr. Riffle says no.  He and the Admission team have very carefully taken note of the number of hockey players graduating or leaving the school, and admitted the appropriate amount of hockey players next year to fill only 2 rosters.  The numbers work out so that next year we will have approximately 25 fewer male hockey players, and 25 new students with other interests such as music, arts, or other sports, etc.

Stella! Huge Storm Closes Roads and Cancels Classes

Just six days before the official start of spring, a fluke snow storm named “Stella” hit the Northeast, landing particularly hard on Lake Placid, which recorded 41 inches of snowfall in just eighteen hours.

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Trump Issues Travel Ban; Local Universities Affected

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Photo: Reuters

President Donald J. Trump fulfilled a campaign promise and issued a ban on Muslim immigration on Sunday, January 29.  President Trump had often spoken of issuing a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States during his campaign, until the U.S. could, in his words, “figure out what the hell is going on.”  The seven countries included in the travel ban are Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. [Read more…]

Girls and 16U Hockey Teams Hoping to Win First State Championships

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Senior Katelinn Cummings blocks a shot in front of senior Hanna Markel in action earlier this season.

(March 9, 2017) This weekend, the Northwood Boys 16U and the Northwood Girls team will be playing for their respective state championships in Buffalo, New York. If they win, they will be earning a spot at the 2017 USA Hockey National Championships to be held in early April in Pittsburgh for the boys, and Plymouth (Michigan) for the girls. The boys left last night after dinner, and the girls depart later today. [Read more…]

Questions for…Christian DiCesare ’17

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Christian DioCesare of New Jersey

 

Who would you pick to play yourself in a movie about your life?

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Kiefer Sutherland (Photo: TVGuide.com)

 

What are the last 3 web sites visited in your browser history?

Gmail
Nhl.com
Pandas

 

What is your celebrity crush?

Friday Night Lights

Lyla Garrity, from Friday Night Lights (Photo: PeoplesChoice.com)

 

 

What is your favorite smell?

The ocean

 

What is your most treasured possession?

State championship ring

 

Which talent would you most like to have?

Hockey talent

 

What is your favorite place at Northwood (or Lake Placid)?

The pub (Lake Placid Pub and Brewery)

 

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

2013 CMT Music Awards - Backstage & Audience

Predator Center (and Underwood spouse) Mike Fisher (Photo: Getty Images)

 

 

Restaurant Review: Wise Guys Sports Bar and Grill

Wiseguys Sports Bar has been a Friday night home for me and some of the other guys on the Junior Hockey Team and is my favorite place to watch sports, especially hockey, in Lake Placid.  The menu and decor may remind you of the Buffalo Wild Wings chain. Wise guys has great wings, and abundant TVs playing sports. Back home, Buffalo Wild Wings was often the place I would go to watch sports over dinner, this year Wiseguys has been my place to do that in Lake Placid.

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Questions for…Wyatt Wilmhurst ’17

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Massena, New York native Wyatt Wilmhurst ’17 (Photo: provided)

 

Who would you pick to play yourself in a movie about your life?

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Bradley Cooper (Photo: lovethispic.com)

 

What are the last 3 web sites visited in your browser history?
YouTube, Northwood, Netflix

 

What is your favorite viral video?

 

What is your celebrity crush?

2015 Harper's BAZAAR ICONS Event

Kendall Jenner (Photo:  Life&Style)

 

What is your favorite smell?
Peaches

 

What is your most treasured possession?
My Dog

 

Which talent would you most like to have?
Be able to be invisible

 

What is your favorite place at Northwood (or Lake Placid)?
Mirror Lake

 

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

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Dallas Cowboys Running back Ezekiel Elliott (Photo: Wikipedia)

The Trump Inauguration at Northwood (Yawn)

It felt like just another Friday as Donald J. Trump was inaugurated the forty-fifth President of the United States of America while most of the Northwood community dined on hot dogs and fish and chips in the dining room.

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Donald J. Trump taking the oath of office as President of the United States (Photo: AFP)

[Read more…]

Students Have Mixed Opinions on Winter Schedule

After Thanksgiving Break the daily schedule for students and teachers at Northwood School shifted to “winter schedule.” Northwood is in only its second year of using this iteration of the winter schedule.  So, either students are experiencing it for the second time, or the new students are just being exposed to it. Student opinions widely vary.

Anton Sporre ‘18 said that he likes winter schedule.  Specifically, he like how it “Gets you going in the morning.” Having practice and or a workout first thing in the morning really prepares you for the day. Anton says he prefers winter schedule over the normal schedule.  When asked if he finds it difficult to stay awake in some of the later classes, he responded saying it depends. “If what you are doing in class is not too difficult, it is not that difficult to stay awake,” he said.  The only downside of the winter schedule, according to Anton, is that there was more free time in normal schedule, or at least it seemed that way.

Fallou Sylla ‘20 strongly dislikes the winter schedule. He feels “more tired.” Around 4:00 he says his energy wanes. Staying awake during the winter is very difficult he says. Unlike Anton, Fallou feels like the free time in both schedules is about even. Still,

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Ninth grader Fallou Sylla does not like winter schedule.

Both Fallou and Anton are in their first year of winter schedule.  A seeing that we are only a few weeks in, maybe their opinions will change.

In order to bring some balance, we have also seeked the opinion of Luke Damiano (‘18), who, as a second year student, has been through the winter schedule before.  Luke says that he is “indifferent” toward winter schedule. According to Luke, the benefit of winter schedule is starting school late. The downside, however, is having practice early.  He supposes this “balances it out.” He does find it hard to stay awake throughout the day after a morning of sports.  When it comes to free time, he does feel the normal schedule has more.

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